And because nobody likes relentless optimism and joy, I've included a few of the WORST things, too! You like balance, don't you?
Keep in mind that when I say something is the "best" or "worst," I mean that it's the best or worst of the things I actually saw/heard/experienced this year. You may not agree with some of my choices, but too bad.
My comrades Wes (Scary-Crayon.com) and Greg (Pop-Arena.com) have made their own 2006 Best/Worst Lists, so be sure to check those out as well.
But for now, here's my list...
Disney Parks: "Year of a Million Dreams"
I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, one thing's for certain -- I lunge for the remote whenever there's a commercial break so I can hit the mute button. But sometimes I'm too lazy to mute, and this summer I got a real treat, thanks to my laziness. All-too-familiar music greeted my ears. PETER PAN! It was music from the James Newton Howard score to Peter Pan (Columbia/Universal, 2003), one of my favorite movies... and it was triumphantly playing during a commercial for... Disney parks? DISNEY!? But Disney has their own Peter Pan! Hmmm, maybe that's the whole point. Maybe Disney's full of love, even for other studios' brands of Pan. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Or maybe they just counted on no one recognizing the music.) Oh yeah, and the commercial's cute, too. The long version (below) features different children wishing for various fantastic things -- and it shows their wishes coming true. It's one reason not to mute. Too bad there are still 45,221,992 reasons to do just the opposite.
Bruce Campbell, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
I'll admit it... I love Bruce Campbell. And seeing this show for the first time was a real treat. (The DVDs were just released in 2006.) Bruce is adorable as a late-19th-century bounty hunter/Harvard-trained lawyer named Brisco, who's aiming to bring justice to the West. Brisco gets into corny predicaments sometimes, but the show is full of action, adventure, and some not-exactly-G-rated-humor. It makes me smile.
Indiana Jones 4
"We're going to make this film this year!" "No we're not!" "We have a script!" "No we don't!" "RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHTREDLIGHTROFLZ!!!1"
Call me when you've made up your damn minds.
Biff's Question Song
Comedian/actor/songwriter Tom Wilson, who played the bully "Biff" in the hit Back to the Future trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990), still gets asked obnoxious questions by fans... over and over and over. So he wrote a song about these questions... and answered them. The result is side-stitchingly hilarious.
"What's Michael J. Fox like?" "He's nice."
"What's Michael J. Fox like?" "Nice guy."
"What's Michael J. Fox like?" "HE'S AN ALIEN. Stop asking me the question!"
Deal Or No Deal
It's addictive, and audiences love it. You may even love it. But I just can't get behind a show that's so simple, even a robot could play it. And I don't mean one of those 5-zillion-gigabyte-brained superrobots, either. I'm talking about the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Yes, even the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots could play Deal Or No Deal and win big. They could punch their little fists toward the suitcases to indicate their choice. Then they could wave both fists for "Deal" or show no movement at all for "No Deal."
Furthermore I dislike the spokesmodels and their fake awwww, darn! faces they don whenever a contestant chooses a suitcase with a high amount. Yeah, like those models care about you. They're making boatloads of money to open a suitcase. Even Vanna White does more than that. Not a lot more, but more.
David Copperfield
In April, magician David Copperfield foiled four teenagers who tried to mug him after one of his shows. Here is an excerpt from the AP article that reported this:
"The 49-year-old illusionist was walking with two female assistants to their tour bus after his show Sunday at a performing arts center when four teens pulled up in a black car, a police report said.
Two armed robbers allegedly got out of the car and demanded the group's belongings. One woman handed over $400 from her pockets and the other gave up her purse with 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a cell phone. Copperfield refused to empty his pockets, the report said.
Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone.
'Call it reverse pickpocketing,' Copperfield told The Palm Beach Post.
Copperfield read the license plate number of the car to an assistant while she called 911, the report said.
Four teenagers were arrested and charged with armed robbery. They were held without bond, police said. The women's property was recovered."
I think David Copperfield should have just made the teenagers disappear. Poof!
P.S. Searching for David Copperfield pics on Google brings up many images, including:
Seems Mr. Radcliffe doesn't need those suspenders anymore, oh ho ho! What a year, I tell ya.
P.P.S. Does it bug anybody else that a celebrity is named after a book character? Or is that just me?
Dean Cain Comes To Teri Hatcher's Book Launch Party
You'll have to forgive me, but in my quest to include all the things that made 2006 awesome, I had to make up a doofy category name to accommodate 2006's most awesome event of all.
You see, boys and girls, back in the days of yore, I was obsessed with the TV series Lois & Clark. I loved seeing Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher play opposite each other. They made me happy. But since the show ended in 1997, they hadn't worked together. I had never seen them together. This made me sad. In May, Teri's autobiography, Burnt Toast, hit the shelves. There was a launch party in L.A. Word is, Teri sent an invitation to Dean, but had no idea he was coming until he actually got there. When he arrived, the look on her face -- both of their faces -- was priceless. Hugs and smiles and *squee*s galore.
And that was just the fans!
Ah, Moment.
Crystal Light berry-flavored Slurpees in holographic Superman Returns collector's cups
In 1998, I was obsessed with the chihuahua from the Taco Bell commercials, and I made sure to buy all the Taco Dog collector's cups. My mom deemed me crazy, the cups ended up in a box, the box may or may not have ended up at a garage sale, and I told myself I would not buy any more collector's cups. What a silly thing to buy!
*cough* Yeah, whatever. *cough*
Yeah, so during the summer of 2006, 7-Eleven came out with Superman Returns cups (three Slurpee cups, one soda cup) and I just couldn't resist. Really, I couldn't.
Hey, I was good. I only bought seven of 'em.
Speaking of seven...
7th Heaven is finally ending! Wait, no it's not!
Last spring, The WB cancelled 7th Heaven. They made a big deal over last May's episode being the Series Finale. Goodbye, Camden family! But I should have known it was too good to be true. A week later, the network execs decided not to pull the plug after all. And so the show came back... for its eleventh season. And because there was now no room for it on the schedule, Everwood, a fellow WB show, got the axe. What a cruel, cruel world.
And to go with that...
Spawning Their Way Into The Record Books: 7th Heaven
In the "Series Finale," three of the Camden children announced they were about to become parents -- of twins. As daughter Lucy already had one child, this meant the elder Camdens would now have seven children and seven grandchildren. Gee, I wonder why the number seven? I think this episode confirmed what many of us have suspected for years -- the Camdens are agents of the devil and they're trying to take over the world.
The Ten Commandments
Dougray Scott or Charlton Heston... yeah, there's a tough choice.
You were bad... here's a toy!
Every year, at least one bratty child waits for Mommy to turn her back and then weasels his way into a claw/toy machine. The mother of 2005's little rebel was so amused by her son's stunt, she left him in the machine to go buy a camera so she could document the cuteness. 2006's child o' the claw -- who made a toy machine at Godfather's Pizza his personal fortress -- was said to be throwing toys down the chute before the doors could be pried open; and once they were open -- he refused to leave the machine. In the end, he was rewarded with a Batman toy.
I think the next kid who decides to try this should just be left in the machine until closing time, have to watch his parents leave, and be there when the lights go out. Maybe the kid wouldn't really learn a lesson... but I'd feel better, dammit.
Hiro Nakamura
NBC's new drama Heroes has no shortage of powerful personalities. But none is quite as endearing as Hiro, the Japanese office worker-turned-time traveler. Not only does he have the power to bend time and space, but he is conscious of the possible complications that time travel can have. "Greato Scott!" he exclaims in one episode, upon realizing he's accidentally encountered his "other self." Classic. He's sweet, he's nerdy, and he's trying his best to be heroic... and he breathes an ounce of humor into an otherwise drama-and-sci-fi-laden show. Hiro is definitely my hero.
Don't forget to check out these other Best & Worst lists:
1/15/2007
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